The church, Higher Ground Empowerment Center, has been struggling to retain
members and raise funds for renovations after being significantly damaged by a
tornado that ravaged downtown Atlanta in 2008.

Church leaders took out a huge loan with BB&T in Atlanta to cover
repairs, but keeping up with the payments became increasingly difficult as
membership numbers continued to fall. They eventually decided to try refinancing
the loan, but were disappointed to learn they would be evicted if they couldn't
raise enough money to avoid foreclosure.

That's when pastor Dexter Johnson called up Occupy Atlanta, asking for help
in convincing the bank to reconsider its decision. Protestors staged an
occupy-style protest on Wednesday, moving onto church property with signs and
tents. Later that day, the bank decided to delay foreclosure hearings and work
out a payment plan.

Occupy Atlanta's protest follows a recent wave of anti-foreclosure campaigns
that use occupy movements to delay home foreclosures. Dec. 6 marked the official
launch of Occupy Our Homes, an anti-foreclosure campaign activists say could
become one of the most important efforts of the Occupy movement.

"The defense of homes from foreclosure and forcible eviction could cement
OWS’s relevance in a new post-encampment period," Peter Rothberg wrote in The Nation. "Hopes are riding high
that the day can galvanize a new frontier for the occupy movement: the
liberation of vacant bank-owned homes for those in need."

Occupy Our Homes has caught on in cities around the country as protestors
stage sit-ins at foreclosed properties. AOL Real Estate reported on Minneapolis man Bobby Hull, a
Vietnam vet forced out of work by war injuries who faced foreclosure last year
after falling behind on mortgage payments.

Hull reached out to Occupy Minneapolis, and activists continue to protest the
bank ahead of the scheduled February eviction.

"It's been a big relief," Hull told AOL Real Estate regarding the help he's
received from Occupy activists. "I'm not trying to have false hope. But I'm
hopeful."